The real meaning of “energy dominance”: Shifting burdens from special interests to the American people

Jan 17, 2018

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke thinks the American people and protections for land, water, and air are burdens for energy companies.

Gage Skidmore, flickr

On Feb. 24, 2017, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on regulatory reform.

The directive ostensibly required federal agencies to identify regulations that place “burdens” on the American people. In practice, this order, along with Trump’s March 28 Executive Order on energy independence, laid out a plan for dismantling the regulatory state, in the name of “energy dominance”—a cover for huge giveaways to big business at the expense of American taxpayers.

In the months since, the Interior, Agriculture, and Energy departments, as well as the EPA, have released reports outlining how they will implement these “regulatory burdens” Executive Orders. Collectively, these reports recommend removing nearly every energy development-related safeguard designed to protect the American people and their water, air, and land. Inspection, enforcement, and transparency are all sacrificed at the altar of unchecked fossil fuel development.

Here’s what President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have indicated they consider regulatory burdens imposed by the Interior Department and its Bureau of Land Management on oil, gas, and coal companies.

Spoiler alert: The single goal of all this deregulation is, in short, more drilling and mining permits issued in less time, with little to no oversight or accountability. Anything that might impede this agenda is considered a burden, regardless of the implications.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE COMPLETE ANALYSIS OF 15 POLICIES TARGETED BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FOR GUTTING OR ELIMINATION.